The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 22: Iron Straight Fist, About to Attack

Qian Jin read the diary very carefully this time.

My predecessor lived a good life in the countryside.

Although his ancestors had worn white cuffs, he was handsome and was promoted by the female leader of the Qiongzhou Fishery as a correspondent.

This job is almost like reading newspapers in an office, dealing with precious pieces of paper like People's Daily and Reference News all day long.

In 1972, the fishing farm wanted to set up a film team. The predecessor became a projectionist thanks to his good relationships with people who borrowed newspapers and books.

In those days, movie film was more valuable than money and tickets, and young girls and wives waited every day for the curtain to rise.

My predecessor would stand behind the projector and both men and women would wink at him.

He already had an outstanding image, and with the bonus of his profession, he could naturally kill many local young girls and some mature women.

Faced with the temptation of mountains and bamboo beds, he remained unmoved and chose a female comrade in the logistics team who was in charge of pig farming as his partner.

This made many girls on the farm dissatisfied, and they could only say sourly that dating is like pickling pickles. The more incompatible the ingredients are, the more delicious they are.

It is clear.

The female comrade who raises pigs is Luo Huijuan.

After 1975, educated youth from the fishing farm returned to the city one after another.

There are policy guidelines for returning to the city, and people need to return to the city in an orderly manner through recruitment, examinations, retirement due to illness, job replacement, being an only child, and having no one around.

The girl's father works at the Haibin City Instrument Machinery Factory No. 1 and her mother works at a food factory. Her family is well-off.

Then in January this year, Luo Huijuan returned to Haibin City to replace her seriously ill mother, and she finally made it.

From then on, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl parted ways, and were separated across the country.

From then on, the diary began to change.

The tear marks on the first few pages could turn the pen ink into an ink painting, and later on, the words were filled with resentment.

Every letter from Luo Huijuan was like a death warrant, urging Qian Jin to return to the city and present the red book of the state-owned enterprise, otherwise she would "break up".

Finally, in September, Qian Zhongguo died of a serious illness.

As the youngest son, Qian Jin returned to the city to attend the funeral and was arranged to work in a small collective enterprise on the street. Then, Qian Jin from 27 years ago traveled through time...

Reread your diary.

Qian Jin read out something new.

First of all, he was a bootlicker in his past.

He was really good to Luo Huijuan, and basically all the work points he earned at the fishery were used to support Luo Huijuan.

Secondly, his predecessor was a bastard.

When his father fell ill, he did not ask about his father's health in the letter he sent home. Instead, he kept urging his father to find a way to get him back to the city.

Finally, there is something wrong with his father’s apprentice Bai Dongfeng!
Bai Dongfeng took care of his father during his illness.

There is no doubt that in the eyes of outsiders and colleagues in the factory, Bai Dongfeng is a man of affection, righteousness and ideological awareness.

He treats his master better than his master's own children.

The problem is coming.

He doesn't need to be this good.

He can take care of Qian Zhongguo, but he doesn't have to take care of him entirely.

According to the policy, after Qian Zhongguo retired due to illness, his children could return to the city.

The diary contains a reply letter from Qian Zhongguo, in which Bai Dongfeng blocked Qian Zhongguo's plan to have his children return to the city to take care of him, saying that "it is more important for educated youth to go to the countryside to support rural construction."

This led to conflicts between the Qian family's children and Qian Zhongguo.

In particular, the predecessor always believed that his father did not care about him as his youngest son, so he did not try to get him back to the city.

But Qian Jin could see at a glance that it was all Bai Dongfeng's fault.

He didn't want to, and couldn't, let the Qian family's children return to the city, otherwise the Bai family would not be able to exchange Qian Zhongguo's house in the Workers' New Village!
We can’t blame Qian Jin for judging others by his own standards.

But this is the case.

If Bai Dongfeng is indeed a gentleman, then when Qian Zhongguo passed away, wouldn't he, as his disciple, be busy running around to help him?
Now that his junior brother Qian Jin has returned to the city, he should at least come to visit and show some concern and greetings, right?

However, no.

Nothing.

It was obvious that Bai Dongfeng had been waiting for Qian Zhongguo to die.

This made Qian Jin, who had watched Conan too much, wonder if Qian Zhongguo's death was related to Bai Dongfeng! Keeping this matter in his heart, Qian Jin first considered the problem that Luo Huijuan had come to him.

He has to deal with this girlfriend.

The identity cannot be revealed.

So he ate a quick meal and went to the neighborhood committee to ask Zhang Hongbo for the letter sent by Luo Huijuan.

The letter paper was the back of the production schedule of the Second Food Factory, and faint traces of blue carbon paper with the words "Currently exceeded the quarterly target by 107%" could be seen.

This made Qian Jin feel something was wrong.

The information about resuming the college entrance examination has not been announced yet, and the city is not short of paper. How could a girlfriend use waste paper to write a letter to her boyfriend?
Isn't the attitude right?
He opened it and read:
[This is a letter from Comrade Qian Jin. I feel very happy to see you.]

At the end of January, when my mother's retirement and replacement procedures were approved, I couldn't help but think of you when I was filling out the information in the Labor and Personnel Department. What were you doing at that time?
When I received my light blue work clothes from the Second Food Factory in early February, the workshop director gave me my work permit along with them. I couldn't help but shed tears. I was so happy for you. Your dream had come true. I was no longer a pig herder, but a female worker...

Isn't that a dream?
Qian Jin continued to watch.

[…Last week, I asked someone to find out that you were back in town. I was so happy. As I wrote this, the tide in the Qiongzhou Strait was rising, just like our lives are rising. How wonderful!

But I also heard that you didn't succeed your father at the Sixth Cotton Mill, but instead joined a small collective enterprise on the street level. This made me panic. I was very worried that you wouldn't be able to join a state-owned enterprise, and that our status would be difficult to match...

Qian Jin rolled his eyes.

[…I had hoped to overcome the difficulties with you, sharing the joys and sorrows, and wait for the opportunity to transfer to a state-owned enterprise. But when I arrived at your neighborhood, I found out that you hadn't even joined a small collective enterprise, but instead joined a labor commando…]

You and I are already mature revolutionary fighters. You must understand that no matter how eye-catching the red armbands of the labor commandos are, they can never compare to the red registers of state-owned enterprises. Take, for example, my experience exchanging coal registers at the coal station. Dual-income families only receive honeycomb briquettes at the end of the year...

Yesterday, it was raining and I passed by the Huangshan Road Department Store. I saw a labor commando from a certain street taking shelter under the eaves. They were soaking wet, their Liberation Shoes were covered in mud, and their aluminum lunch boxes were dented. I thought of you and couldn't help but burst into tears...

Qian Jin doesn't like women crying. It's not him who made them cry, so what's so good about it?

He read the end of the two lines at a glance:
[…Last night, my mother put the sewing machine ticket at the bottom of the chest of drawers in front of me. She didn't say anything, but I understood what she meant. She was urging me to get married because this sewing machine was my dowry.

I will always be grateful for your kindness to me, but times have changed. My unit has issued a new regulation from the Civil Affairs Bureau, stating that "people without a fixed unit are not allowed to register for marriage and childbirth." You don't have a unit in the labor commando team, but I'm already 25 years old and can't wait any longer...

The tide in the Qiongzhou Strait will eventually recede, and the waves and sand will eventually separate, just like our lives. I won't be able to contribute to the proletarian cause with you for the rest of my life, but I will always pay attention to you and wish you well, as a thank you for taking care of me during our time at the fishing grounds.

Sincerely, Revolutionary Salute

Luo Huijuan, Autumnal Equinox 1977 (Third Workshop of Haibin Second Food Factory)

After reading this long letter filled with the aroma of tea, Qian Jin's first reaction was to sneer.

It starts with a pretentious "From Comrade Qian Jin personally", but ends with "Revolutionary salute".

What a proletarian female warrior she is. Why didn’t people talk about women holding up half the sky when they were earning work points?
Then Qian Jin’s second reaction was:
Have I become Xiao Yan?
In nature, breakup letters in this era are similar to broken engagements in the fantasy world.

In the fantasy world, engagement is for the purpose of marriage, and in this era, dating is also for the purpose of marriage.

There is a saying that any relationship that is not aimed at marriage is hooliganism. This has been a hard truth since the founding of the People's Republic of China to the present day.

But his final reaction was:

God has been kind to me!
First of all, he doesn't have to worry about his identity being exposed.

Secondly, he wants money!
I just spent my meager cash savings at the Red Star Liu Family Production Team last night.

I just got back to the city and people came to give me money!

Great.

When he got home, he called Sixiao to his side and said, "Come, there's another mission."

"Dajia, go to the Second Food Factory and find out where Luo Huijuan and her mother are at the factory."

"Eryi, this envelope has an address. Go to that street and ask for information about Luo Huijuan's family."

"Three C, Four D, come here, I'll teach you how to speak..."

The four little ones didn't eat his food for nothing.

So easy to use.

Qian Jin opened his diary and began to calculate the work points and supplies that his predecessor had wasted on Luo Huijuan when he went to the countryside.

This must be taken back!
This woman actually wants to take advantage of me and kick me away?

dream!

What do you mean by 'I will always pay attention to you and bless you'? This woman really dares to say that. She thinks she is the Mazu sitting on the altar!

Want to break up?
you can!

But if you take something from me, give it back to me; if you eat something from me, make me spit it out!

Just wait, little green tea.

The iron fist of the 21st century straight man is about to strike!
(End of this chapter)